Making California Small Claims Court easier!

California small claims court limit raised to $10,000

On July 8, 2011, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 221 into law. As of January 1, 2012, small claims litigants can now recover $10,000 from the previous limit of $7,500. There are two caveats to this increase: 1.) for claims of bodily injury from a car accident against a defendant if the defendant is insured and the policy contains a duty to defend and 2.) the limit remains $5,000 for suits brought by corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other corporate entities.

An individual still cannot file more than two small claims actions that exceed $2,500 in any year.

SB221 was authored by the same senator who authored SB422 in 2005 which increased the limit from $5,000 to $7500.